Incidental diagnosis of lung cancer on chest CT scan performed for suspected or documented COVID-19 infection

Pascal Wang; Patricia Martel; Mostafa El Hajjam; Lamiae Grimaldi; Etienne Giroux Leprieur; ’AP-HP / Universities / Inserm COVID-19 research collaboration and AP-HP Covid CDW Initiative

doi:10.1016/j.resmer.2024.101084

Incidental diagnosis of lung cancer on chest CT scan performed for suspected or documented COVID-19 infection

Respir Med Res. 2024 Jan 12:85:101084. doi: 10.1016/j.resmer.2024.101084. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Pascal Wang¹, Patricia Martel², Mostafa El Hajjam³, Lamiae Grimaldi², Etienne Giroux Leprieur⁴; ’AP-HP / Universities / Inserm COVID-19 research collaboration and AP-HP Covid CDW Initiative

Affiliations

¹ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, APHP-Hôpital Ambroise Paré, Department of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Oncology, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
² Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, APHP-Université Paris Saclay, Clinical Research Unit, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
³ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, APHP-Hôpital Ambroise Paré, Department of Radiology, Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
⁴ Université Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, APHP-Hôpital Ambroise Paré, Department of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Oncology, Boulogne-Billancourt, France. Electronic address: etienne.giroux-leprieur@aphp.fr.

PMID: 38663250
DOI: 10.1016/j.resmer.2024.101084

Abstract

Context: Recent studies have shown a benefit of chest computed tomography (CT scan) in lung cancer screening. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many chest CT scan performed on a large population. The objective of this study was to describe the incidence and characteristics of lung cancer detected on chest CT scan, outside the framework of a clinical trial, for a suspected or documented COVID-19 infection.

Methods: We conducted a multicenter study, carried out from the analysis of data from the prospective COVID-19 database of the Clinical Data Warehouse of the Greater Paris University Hospitals (AP-HP). We identified the patients who had been diagnosed with a lung cancer, due to a chest CT scan done for a suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection. The study period was limited to the first two epidemic lockdowns: (03/01/20 - 05/31/20) and (10/10/20 - 11/30/20).

Results: Over the study period, 24 390 patients had at least one chest CT scan. Among them, 72 lung cancer diagnoses were made (incidence 0.30 %; median age 67.4 years old, 50.0 % current smokers, 55.6 % adenocarcinoma). Half of the lung cancer patients (n = 36) did not meet the National Lung Screening Trial inclusion criteria. Twenty-six patients (36.1 %) were diagnosed at an early stage, 25 (34.7 %) of whom received radical curative treatment. Twenty-six patients died during the follow-up (36.1 %) but none in early stages. The median overall survival in lung cancer patients was 693 days [532 - NA].

Conclusions: A large-scale chest CT scan strategy for suspected or documented COVID-19 infection has allowed a significant proportion of early-stage lung cancer diagnosis, all of which have benefited from curative treatment.

Keywords: COVID - 19; Incidental; Lung cancer; SARS-CoV 2; Screening.